Vaccination is a true success story of science triumphing over nature. But, it is this very victory that has created one of the most hotly debated topics of our time. 

Have you ever stopped to wonder what life was like before vaccination? 

• Measles: risk of disease: 1 in 2, 000; risk of death: 1 in 3,000
• Mumps: risk of encephalitis: 1 in 300
• Rubella: risk of congenital rubella 1 in 4 pregnancies
• Diphtheria: risk of death 1 in 20
• Tetanus: risk of death 3 in 100
• Pertussis: risk of death 1 in 200, risk of pneumonia 1 in 8, risk of encephalitis 1 in 20

What about now?  The GAVI Alliance (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations), an international partnership aimed at promoting worldwide vaccinations, published World Health Organization Data that clearly shows that vaccine-preventable illnesses are far from eradicated:

WHO 2002 Estimated Annual Deaths From Vaccine Preventable Illnesses

(Source: Gavi Alliance)

So, 2 million kids worldwide die each year from vaccine preventable illnesses with the overwhelming majority being kids under 5 years of age. If we stop immunizing, death rates will continue to increase world-wide, including in the United States.

Yet parents still question the need for immunization due to fear driven by myths.

Here are some examples:

• Myth: hygiene and better sanitation helped eliminate these diseases even before the shots.

Reality: these factors helped indirectly but the real dramatic decline in these diseases started with the initiation of routine immunization for all.

• Myth: there are bad vaccine lots that have caused more side effects. 

Reality: not true – no lots have been shown to be defective or harmful.

• Myth: vaccines cause horrible side effects including death. 

Reality: multiple studies have proven that DPT does not cause SIDS;  MMR does not cause autism, and Thimerosol is not dangerous.

• Myth: vaccine-preventable diseases have nearly been eliminated from the USA so shots are no longer needed. 

Reality: As discussed above, these diseases are still present and can come into our country via travel placing unimmunized people at risk.

• Myth: giving a child multiple vaccines increases the chance they will have side effects. 

Reality: There is no interaction between vaccines and no increase in side effects by giving child multiple shots at each visit.

True to form, this year there are changes to the immunization schedule including the introduction of new vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics just announced 4 major changes to the 2007 Childhood Immunization schedule:

1. Oral Rotavirus for all infants given at ages 2, 4, and 6months. This is an important virus to control. Rotavirus causes one of the most severe gastrointestinal infections of childhood. The impact on our society is enormous. The WHO estimates that 400,00 children died in 2002 from rotavirus. Rotavirus makes young kids so sick that over ½ million kids get  hospitalized annually with over 100,000 ER visits per year. For parents, the burden of this illness is intense with a sick child and missed work days.
2. Varicella Vaccine Booster for kids ages 4-6. We have boosters for many illnesses and now have the experience with varicella to know that immunity wanes by high school with only one shot. The booster helps keep us protected longer.
3. Expanded age range for the administration of the influenza vaccine to kids 6 to 59 months and kids in close contact with kids ages 0 to 59months. This has been well publicized recently. The kids at most risk from influenza are the kids under 59months.
4. Human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) for girls ages 11-12 with a catch up at age 13 to 18. HPV causes cervical cancer and genital warts. One of the biggest issues with it is a girl can contract it during sex and never know for year and years. Immunizing girls well before they become sexually active protects them from themselves in the hormone years and from a virus that can be a silent killer.

Next year there will be more vaccines and tweeks of the current ones. That is the natural evolution of immunization science. A great deal of thought goes into the schedule and while there are times people react to medications and We in the medical community would never subject our kids or your kids to anything harmful.  The Hippocratic Oath that we all took on graduation day we take very seriously! 

One of my high school history teachers loved to use the phrase “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. Thankfully that is not true in the case of immunizations. Our world has changed for the better because of vaccines. I don’t want to go back to a world with illnesses we can’t treat. How about you?